


A Kiss of Gold

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 04:19:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10209473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa goes to collect Goldie's newborn daughter.





	

Louisa’s phone buzzed three times in her jeans pocket, signalling that Jorvik’s weekly ‘update’ had been completed. She reached into her pocket, expecting to find just another email about new clothes at one of the various shops around Jorvik, and instead found three texts.

_Marley: I got a new horse! This one is a beautiful dapple grey paint. Come and check it out!_

_Bernadine: I have added another horse to the square of New Hillcrest. This one is a new Icelandic that is either black with a white pattern or white with a black pattern. Or black and white! Come and have a look at it, if you’re interested._

_Nanook: Congratulations, friend Louisa. Your mare Morningflower has given birth to a healthy filly. She looks just like her mother. Come, and bring her mate._

Louisa slipped her phone back into her pocket and turned to look at Alex, who was sadly looking at her own phone.

“Looks like there’s nothing interesting for us to do this week,” said Alex.

“Well, one of my mares just gave birth. Wanna come for a ride with me up to Icengate?” asked Louisa.

“Icengate? No thanks, I prefer to not freeze my butt off,” said Alex. “I’ll wait for you at your stable instead.”

“Okay,” said Louisa. “Just let the stable girl know you’re there.”

“Will do,” said Alex. “Anything in your fridge you don’t want me to eat or drink?”

“Don’t drink my Sunkist, they don’t sell it here,” said Louisa. “I had to order it off Amazon.”

“Alright,” said Alex. “Don’t be surprised if I restock your fridge.”

Louisa smiled as she turned Winterkiss away from Alex and rode out of the winery. Marley’s was closest, so she headed there first.

 _“Where are we going?”_ asked Winterkiss.

 _“Well, I’m taking you to Marley’s farm and then New Hillcrest, then home,”_ said Louisa.

 _“You mentioned Icendell, though,”_ said Winterkiss. _“That’s in the land of eternal winter, isn’t it?”_

 _“Yes, but I’m going there to get Morningflower and her foal so I want to take her mate,”_ said Louisa. _“Sorry I can’t take you but I’ll have a distracted stallion, a mare who just gave birth, and a newborn filly to look after.”_

 _“Then just leave me there,”_ said Winterkiss.

 _“I know you’re the mate of a winter spirit but you don’t possess his supernatural resistance to cold. What if you got lost or fell through the ice into the lake or got stuck somewhere?”_ Louisa worried.

 _“I understand,”_ said Winterkiss, but she sounded very disappointed. Louisa rubbed her neck, silently apologising to the mare. She knew that Winterkiss wanted to find her mate, and she hoped that someday she would, but Winterkiss could be foolish when it came to her lost mate.

There was a large crowd around the post with Paints and Appaloosas behind it, and Louisa chuckled at the sight of it. This happened every time a new horse came to Jorvik, complete with many people bemoaning their lack of Star Coins. Some were already on the phone to their parents, or transferring funds from their native currency into Star Coins. The new horse, once Louisa finally managed to squeeze through the crush of bodies, was quite beautiful. The dapples on the horse looked like snowflakes.

“You are beautiful,” said Louisa, petting the horse’s nose. “I’ll definitely be getting you in the future.”

Unlike most of the people who came to Jorvik, Louisa had a lot of horses she wanted to buy and train, so she usually didn’t buy new horses as soon as they were up for sale. They’d still be there by the time she got to them. So, while other people gave Star Coins to Marley, Louisa got back into her saddle and rode off to New Hillcrest.

The shorter Icelandic Horse was more difficult to see through the crowd, but Louisa eventually pushed her way through to see him. He was quite a pretty one.

 _“He almost looks like my son,”_ said Winterkiss.

 _“I know,”_ said Louisa, petting the thick mane of the horse. Aloud, she said to the horse, “I’ll come back for you later.”

“Back so soon?” asked Alex when Louisa led Winterkiss into her stable.

“Yeah, I had to change horses,” said Louisa. “Have you told Goldie the good news?”

“She has not,” said Goldmist, leaning over his stall door. “Have you heard from Nanook and Sedna?”

“That’s what I was going to tell you,” said Louisa, closing Winterkiss’ stall door and smiling as the mare stretched her neck out to nuzzle with her son in the next stall over. “Congratulations, Goldie, it’s a girl. We’ll go get her now.”

“A daughter!” Goldmist whinnied in excitement. Several other horses joined his excited whinnying, and Louisa had to laugh at all the noise.

“C’mon, then,” said Louisa. She grabbed his tack from the tack room, then struggled with the difficult task of tacking up an excited stallion. “Hold still, you silly colt.”

“I have a sister,” said Golddust, and Louisa smiled and gave him a quick pet before mounting her excited horse.

“Yep, and you’ll meet her soon,” said Louisa. “Alex, try to calm down these excited horses and get a stall ready for the new arrival.”

“Weren’t you supposed to do that earlier today?” asked Alex.

“I was reading a very good book,” said Louisa. She rode out as Alex laughed, and Goldmist galloped faster than he ever had before as they headed towards Marley’s farm and the hot air balloon that would take them straight to Nic Stoneground’s camp in the Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur.

Even with how freezing it was here, Goldmist managed to get up to Icengate in half the time it would normally take. His breath still frosted the air, but he didn’t seem affected at all by the cold. He only slowed when they reached the top of the road leading up to Icengate. The blue light streaming forth from the crystal above the doors dazzled Louisa, but Goldmist had eyes only for the mare sheltered in the simple horse shelter with a tiny filly busily feeding.

“She gave birth a few hours ago, we just decided to let the mother and foal have some time alone together first,” said Nanook.

“It is important to foster the bond between dam and foal,” said Sedna. “The foal is able to walk now, though she is still shaky on her legs.”

“Not to worry, I’ll have her mother and father there to help me,” said Louisa.

“I wish you could take a different pass back through to Jorvik to make the journey easier, but we do not have permission to allow you entry yet,” said Nanook.

“I’ll help my filly around logs and everything,” said Morningflower, though Louisa was the only human who could hear her.

“Just be careful,” said Sedna.

“I will,” said Louisa. She paid Nanook a fee for their help with the foaling, then finally got a good look at the filly who had finished feeding and was now standing on trembling legs.

“She looks like gold,” said Morningflower, nuzzling the tiny filly.

“She does look like gold,” said Louisa, hoping not to confuse Nanook and Sedna. “I’ll name her Goldkiss. Does that sound good?”

“It sounds very good,” said Nanook. “I hope that you will not have too much trouble raising a fjord foal.”

“I did okay raising a mustang one,” said Louisa. “And I’ll have people to help me.”

“If you ever need help, come back to us,” said Sedna. “Or send Nanook a message on his jPhone.”

“I will,” said Louisa. “Thank you both for helping me with this.”

The ride back home was much slower than the ride in, and Louisa shivered as the cold began to sink into her. The filly shivered too, so her mother kept close to her. Unfortunately, two grown horses and one filly couldn’t safely fit inside the hot air balloon with the rider, so they had to continue their slow trek to the rickety old elevator.

“This brings back memories,” said Louisa, dismounting Goldmist. She stood beside the new filly while the elevator went up, soothing the poor, frightened creature. She’d done this before when Golddust was born, but it was still a little nerve-wracking.

When they finally arrived home, Alex had a large, comfortable stall waiting for the mother and foal.

“You took your time,” said Alex. “I was starting to get worried.”

“We had to take the long way out and be careful with the newborn,” said Louisa. She put Morningflower and Goldkiss in the large stall, then left them to get settled in. Golddust had been relocated to a stall beside the large stall, and there was an empty stall on the other side of the large stall for Goldmist.

“Well, while I waited, I restocked your fridge,” said Alex. “And I didn’t drink your Sunkist.”

“Thanks,” said Louisa, smiling. “I’m craving something hot after going to that freezing place, though.”

“Yeah, you were almost out of coffee,” said Alex. “And I got you some of the good hot chocolate.”

“Legend,” said Louisa, finding the tin of hot chocolate mix in the cupboard. She got it out, then bent to open the lower cupboard. “Do you want a cup?”

“Yes please,” said Alex, taking a seat at the small table. “As long as you use milk.”

“Got a fresh delivery from Jamie this morning,” said Louisa, grabbing the milk from the fridge. She didn’t have a stove in her little stable kitchen, so she poured milk into the cups and hoped for the best. There was only a small mess, and nothing paper towels couldn’t take care of.

“So, what’d you call her?” asked Alex when Louisa joined her at the table with the drinks.

“Goldkiss,” said Louisa, looking out at the new family. Goldie’s family was growing by the day.


End file.
